pixiegenné

all is calm

we had a very nice christmas here and then headed down to mass for a few days to see family and friends. here's a few shots from my sister's cute cottage; she hosted a yankee swap for all the siblings last weekend.


now i'm enjoying a few days of mellow with the kids.
i love the mellow.

i finally finished this hooked piece. it was intended for a gallery show but i had a little freak out so now it's staying with me. i bound the muslin backing too tight and now it won't lie (or hang) flat. i'm feeling like a bit of a loser but trying not to beat myself up too much. the upside is that i rarely make anything for myself and i really like this piece.

anyway, the show it was intended for opens this friday at nahcotta in portsmouth. it's called "inspired: this i believe" and is based on the npr show (which i love and think is a brilliant idea for a show). lots and lots of great artists have contributed work, including jen, stephanie and maria, and so many others. check it out if your local. i plan on heading down friday night for the opening.

this week is all about assembling lego sets, watching movies, playing mancala and mastermind and scrabble, ridding the house of sugar and other purging-type activities, sledding, maybe some roller-skating, and lounging. hope you're week is full of some good mellow fun, too.
xoxo

merry and bright, slightly buzzed and very sniffly

we just had a very yummy dinner with our good friends. i drank a bunch of bubbly which was fun but now the head cold that's been simmering has hit me full force. i have a last bit of wrapping to do and am then looking forward to a nyquil night cap.

but first i wanted to say a very happy christmas/hannukah/kawanza/festivus to you and yours. here's some festive flickr favorites (alliteration! buzzed blogging!)...

(see my flickr for photo credits)

i wanted to say a thank you to all my flickr/bloggy friends out there for another year of inspiration and encouragement. thank you!

here's some good stuff from my favorite muppet special.
that's right, i love john denver.
shut up.

i'm off for a bit, see you here next week.
merry, merry!

snowed in

lately i've been starting each day with a grapefruit and promising myself i will NOT eat 15 christmas cookies today. i was successful today, but only because we've run out of christmas cookies.

my friend hosts a secret santa party for our kids each year. this year my kids got jen's kids, which they were pretty psyched about. i made them some ugly doll knock-offs. similar to the real thing, but made with love (and a little copyright infringement).

we're in the midst of a nor'easter today. good day to take a nap on the couch in front of a football game. and then wake up and still not get off the couch but surf the internet mindlessly for an hour or so. and then, when the kids ask what's for dinner, tell them to pretend they're orphans and scavenge. is that really bad?

it's gettin, it's gettin, it's gettin kinda hectic

total drive-by post today.
hi.
things are good but busy here. just like where you are, i'm guessing. i've procrastinated to the point of panic on a few craft projects so i was up waaaaaaayyyyy too late last night getting it all done and will be up waaaaaaayyyy too late again tonight (because i actually didn't get it all done). but first i have to stick a lasagna in the oven and pretty myself up (john requested i look "hot") for his company party tonight. then some more partying and crafting and holiday recital and secret santa fun this weekend.

here's a monkey i made last night for a custom order...

and here's reason #437 why i love jon stewart.
even in the most hectic of times i can stay true to my picture + video link post formula.

photo laden post

what i've been up to...

the halls got decked.

we had an ice storm. it was pretty.

i spent the weekend in boston with some good friends. this is the anthropologie store. i've been itching to see it since erin posted these photos of the new york windows. i want to replicate this but that's a whole lotta paper chain. you need paper chain elves for a job like that.

my kids decided to live in boxes for a few days. it was pretty funny.

this week is an epic battle between me and my to-do list. wish me luck.
and good luck with yours :)

i'm over it

wow. thanks for all the words of condolence on the demise of my ornament wreath. leave it to this crafting community to fully appreciate the enormity of my loss :). i saw that my cautionary tale made it to the craft: magazine blog. thanks for the shout-out (jenny)!

moving on...we got the tree, it's been trimmed. i'm feeling a little lazy about the rest of the hall decking but will hopefully have everything looking merry and bright by the end of the week. i've been busy working on a few custom orders and getting some work together for a show i'll be doing in early january (more on that soon). here's more of the hooked piece i'm working on. i'm hoping to finish it tonight.

the kids have been up late watching all the christmas specials. charlie brown is on tonight. anyone know when year without a santa claus airs? i don't want to miss my favorite song.

that's all i got today. happy monday!

the ornament wreath: words of advice and caution

i've made a few of these ornament wreaths and someone recently asked me for some pointers. basically you take a foam wreath form, a bunch of vintage ornaments and a glue gun and you go to town. and here's a couple other things to keep in mind.

• it takes a LOT of ornaments to make a wreath. if you have two boxes of shiny brights, you do not have enough. if you have a big tupperware bin full of old ornaments with lots and lots of smaller ones, you're in good shape. the smaller ones are key for filling in gaps.
• you need one of those heavy duty glue guns...the yellow one. the little pink one doesn't get hot enough and as a result the glue doesn't set well. really those little pink ones are useless. if you have one i would throw it out and buy the yellow one.
• the glue can still unset, especially if you store the wreath in a cold place, so don't store the wreath anywhere that is uninsulated. 
• for hanging, you can use ribbon (hot-glued or pinned to the back) or hot glue a wall hanging thingy to the back.
• obviously, these wreaths are ridiculously fragile. kids under 10 shouldn't be allowed in the same room. kids under 5 really shouldn't even look at it.

and finally, if you're a ginormous ignoramous and can't wait the full hour for the 3M wall hook thingy to set before putting your wreath on the wall because you have the patience of a toddler and are basically too stupid to live, this may not be the craft for you.
that's right.
i'm gonna go cry in my coffee a little now.

new case and stuff

this is a special request custom order case i made to trade with one of my favorite bloggy friends (i hope you like it, dawn!). i still have to clean it up a bit around the edges but you get the general idea.

hope you stateside people had a wonderful thanksgiving. ours was great, and i spent the rest of my weekend in massachusetts hanging with family and friends and attending my 20th high school reunion. really fun and kinda surreal. i've spent way too much time before and since chatting it up w/old high school friends on facebook (crackbook). i'm swimming in nostalgia.

(and if you're wondering why i haven't stopped by your blog lately, you have your answer. i can only handle one internet addiction at a time. oh, and also too, tetris.)

john sent me a clip of the late mitch hedberg the other day. i hadn't seen him before but have quickly become a big fan.
if you liked that, there's this.
and this.
and also too, this.

apparently i wasn't quite done making fun of sarah palin. i think maybe it's out of my system now.